Ceblokan and Tebasan

B. Ceblokan and Tebasan

One response by some small farmers is the system called ceblokan (in Sundanese) or pajegan (in Javancse). This sys- tem was observed in only one of the sample villages, one rela- tively far from the major rice growing areas. A group of women, often as many as 10 for a plot no larger than 0.15 hectare, will join together to transplant and weed a farmer’s sawah. They are not paid for this work, but are given meals. At harvest time, however, this group of women have the sole right to harvest that farmer‘s crop, and no one else may join in with- out their permission. They receive one-sixth of the harvest, but since there are fewer participating, their shares are larger than under bawon. Usually the harvest lasts long enough—ten to twenty days—so that one woman can join five to ten such groups. Ceblokan had been in use for about ten years in this village and had come to be adopted, according to the farmers, because of the very small size of farms. One farmer thought that ceblokan would soon be used also for soil preparation, work usually done by men.

This system has been effective in limiting the numbers of those participating and in keeping shares for fellow-villagers only. If the system spreads, it could easily increase the exis- ting tension between villagers and outside harvesters; but in the village where this system was in use, pressures from out- side harvesters were not as strong as in other villages.

Tebasan. In some of the more important rice producing areas, the response of many has been to adopt the tebasan system. Tebas is a Javanese word which means to buy almost- mature crops which the buyer must harvest at his own ex-

Ranah Studi Agraria pense. In the past, especially for crops other than rice, tebasan

was a cash-and-carry transaction. But in recent times, the trader (penebas) pays the farmer only at the time of harvest or several days after harvest, at least in the villages surveyed. Tebasan was found in all four of the Central Java villages studied and is more important than ceblokan both in its fre- quency and in its long-run implications. Just under half the farmers in the Survey sold some of their rice crop to penebas in the 1972 dry season. On average, they sold about two-thirds of their crop to the penebas, harvesting the rest under bawon in order to fulfill their social obligations to their neighbours. The remainder of the crop they kept for their own food.

The farmers say that the main reason they sell their crop to the penebas before harvest is to avoid the problems of su- pervising the harvest and dividing the shares. They much prefer the middleman to do this, so they do not have to worry about the numbers of harvesters or the division of shares; they can also expect a larger share for themselves. Several mentioned that as soon as the harvest was completed, they expected to buy back from the penebas some of the rice from their own fields. They were convinced that they received more if they sold at least part of their crop to a penebas; one farmer expected his income to be 25 per cent higher by tebasan than if he harvested his crop by bawon.

In the villages surveyed, the penebas were of three dif- ferent origins: one was a group from within the village, one was made up of farmers from a nearby village and one was a group of traders from a nearby town. Most of the village lead- ers said that the majority of the penebas were from outside the

Recent Changes in Rice Harvesting... village where they purchase the crop. Those within the vil-

lage were usually relatively large land owners and were also likely to be those with fairly close relationships with village leaders. If the penebas is also a farmer, he must sell his crop to another penebas; he cannot harvest it himself if he wants to limit the size of the harvesters’ shares.

The penebas normally purchases the rice in the field from five to fifteen days before harvest. If he is from the same vil- lage as the farmer, payment is usually made about one week after harvest although a down payment of Rp 500-1,000 may

he made to seal the agreement. If he is from another village,

he will usually pay before the rice is carried out of the farmer’s field. Farmers are not tied to any one buyer, but will select the one who gives the highest price; ordinarily four or five buying groups will approach each farmer.

In the villages surveyed, the penebas work in groups of two to four people, since harvesting may be taking place in several places and there must be someone to supervise each field. Usually one member of the team specialises in bargain- ing with the farmer and estimating the yield, while another organises the harvest in the field and a third receives the rice and pays the harvesters, Apparently this grouping is not for the purpose of mobilising capital; since the farmers are not normally paid until the penebas have sold the crop, there is no need for extensive capital.

In one of the villages, the system worked as follows: the penebas who have purchased a crop send letters to their se- lected harvesters in the village, giving them a right to help harvest the crop. The appointed harvesters gather at the house

Ranah Studi Agraria of the penebas before going to the fields. They wear distinc-

tive coloured hats, or put their letters in their hats, so that the penebas can distinguish their own people. If the harvest is to he in another village, each penebas brings his own harvest- ers from his own village. The harvesters must carry the paddy to the penebas’ house or to the specified rice hullers as part of their task. The penebas then sells the rice to buyers in the village or in nearby towns and only then does he complete his payment to the farmer.

The amount of land handled by one group of penebas var- ies, according to the survey. One group estimated that they would harvest about 50 ha of sawah, another group of four said they would normally handle about 12 ha, half in one vil- lage and half in another. This group never went further than

2 kilometres to harvest a crop. Normally, the groups appeared to harvest about 20 ha each, with the number of plots ranging from 20 to well over 100.

Profits made by the penebas were reported only in one village, where they made a profit of Rp 200 per quintal of beras. Since the penebas do not operate with capital, if they make a poor estimate of the crop, they may not have the money to cover their loss. In this case, they usually re-nego- tiate the original price with the farmer. Sometimes a penebas will lose on a deal and disappear with the farmer’s rice; or

he may pay as much as he can of the agreed price and hope, if he gains enough on other deals, to repay the remainder. If the penebas gains on a transaction, however, the farmer still gets the original agreed price and no more.

Harvesters appear to take a different attitude when the

Recent Changes in Rice Harvesting... penebas buys the crop than when the farmer shares out the

harvest directly. Unlike the farmer, the penebas is recognised as a trader in this role (even though he may also be a farmer) and his right to a profit is accepted. The harvesters will accept conditions from a farmer in his role of penebas dealing with another farmer’s crop which they will not accept from him as

a farmer dealing with his own crop. Individual harvesters may benefit from working with a penebas, especially when he can control the numbers participating and so ensure larger returns for his chosen harvesters. On the other hand, the ac- tual shares for harvesters as a group under tebasan are smaller than when the farmer divides the crop, harvesters normally getting 1 share to 11 or 12 for the penebas. Furthermore, when sickles are used the division is made in most cases by weight and not by bundle.

Thus the farmers are convinced that they benefit by sell- ing through tebasan, the penebas also benefit and those har- vesters with close relationships with the penebas also benefit. But the number of landless rural people who have fewer em- ployment opportunities will rapidly increase in rural areas and those who have very small incomes may find that even these have decreased.